Give me liberty from worry or give me death and to my savior I'll go

Holidays are stressful... So I follow The Way

I'm staring, seemingly mindlessly at my phone. My husband is sitting to the right of me, sprawled, screen in hand as well. Both of us just loud enough to drown everything out, just quiet enough  to hear if our little one makes a peep in the next room. And, like always, the weight of it all hits me.

What am I doing? I should be bonding with my husband.... No I really should be cleaning the house for all the relatives coming over for Thanksgiving... Or decorating for Christmas... Or prepping lessons for next week. Let's be real, these are all things that go through my brain daily. As a new working mom, who has had unusually high standards of cleanliness and hosting expectations pressed into her from a young age, these are the things I think about when I'm unfocused.

It's very dangerous.

Because with each blank stare and passing thought, I'm more and more like Martha and less like Mary. I'm more and more stressed, more and more unthankful, more and more closed off to the ones I love. Ironically, unlike Martha, non of it gets done for it's just too overwhelming.

This time of year we celebrate something so crucial, we celebrate hope coming into a world of darkness. This is the perfect time of year for the evil one to infiltrate our brain with business. He knows if that hope got a hold of us, it would all be lost, we would be shouting praises from the rooftops. So he slaps a couple labels with low prices on thigs our greedy little hearts want... No NEED... He puts high expectations in our Grandmothers and neighbors minds about how things should be done. He fills us with guilt when things arnt perfect, shame when there is not enough money to go around, dread that it won't all get done, fear that the hope is real and we are missing out.

Well, arnt we? 

To combat him is not easy, there is not some cliche to be raised or some process to be followed. This is real stuff, it's not easy, there are no steps. 

So I'm left staring at this phone asking myself the only question that really needs answering. What is His way? By that I mean God, the father, Jesus, the spirt that lives in me. What does he want FROM me this December? What does he want FOR me too? He says He is the way, and by that He means that He lays out a clear path for us to follow. It should not be complicated. His way is always in His word.

So my goal this holiday season is to look to His way. To focus, to calm, to sit with Him in the joy of the season. To seize the moment to enjoy him in his fullness. To shout His praises from the rooftops.

But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:40-42 NLT)

God doesn't care that it's clean, or perfect. Say, "foey" to the ones who do. Your presence alone is enough for Him.